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guilty and suffer the penalty of the law, less innocent than
poor Justine had been. Such were my thoughts when the
door of my apartment was opened and Mr. Kirwin entered.
His countenance expressed sympathy and compassion; he
drew a chair close to mine and addressed me in French, ‘I
fear that this place is very shocking to you; can I do any-
thing to make you more comfortable?’
‘I thank you, but all that you mention is nothing to me;
on the whole earth there is no comfort which I am capable
of receiving.’
‘I know that the sympathy of a stranger can be but of
little relief to one borne down as you are by so strange a
misfortune. But you will, I hope, soon quit this melancholy
abode, for doubtless evidence can easily be brought to free
you from the criminal charge.’
‘That is my least concern; I am, by a course of strange
events, become the most miserable of mortals. Persecuted
and tortured as I am and have been, can death be any evil
to me?’
‘Nothing indeed could be more unfortunate and agoniz-
ing than the strange chances that have lately occurred. You
were thrown, by some surprising accident, on this shore, re-
nowned for its hospitality, seized immediately, and charged
with murder. The first sight that was presented to your eyes
was the body of your friend, murdered in so unaccountable
a manner and placed, as it were, by some fiend across your
path.’
As Mr. Kirwin said this, notwithstanding the agitation I
endured on this retrospect of my sufferings, I also felt con-

0 Frankenstein